6 Uses for Silica Gel Packets- Don’t Throw Them Away!

You know those little white silica gel packets that come in the box with your brand new heels? I used to toss them in the trash, but my brilliant husband asked me to start keeping them! He has found some great usesfor those silica gel packets that I hadn’t even though of!

Silica gel packets are used to absorb moisture and keep things dry. They are ideal to reuse throughout your home in places where you might be worried about excess moisture.

Here are a few places where we have found Silica gel packets to be useful. Just make sure that you keep these out of the reach of children! They are not to be eaten. This post contains affiliate links. If a purchase is made, I make a tiny percentage to keep my blog running, so thank you!

6 Uses for Silica Gel Packets:

1. To save your cell phone from water damage.I recently dropped my iPhone in a pot of boiling potatoes while trying to multitask. (OK, I was on Pinterest while making dinner, I’ll admit it.) I dropped my phone in the boiling water, quickly pulled it out with a spoon, dried it off, removed the SIM card, and put it in a Ziploc bag filled with silica gel packets that we had stockpiled. I left it alone for a few days, and was shocked to find that it worked perfectly!

Supposedly this works better than the rice trick for saving your cell phone. Just try to restrain yourself and not turn it on until a few days later because it could cause an electrical short and ruin your phone.

2. To help keep photos safe and free from moisture. I love to scrapbook. I recently pulled out one of my scrapbooks from a few years back , when I noticed that some of my scrapbook pages were wet! I have spent countless hours on my scrapbook pages. You can imagine how upset I was to find that one of my kids had spilled water, and it had dripped down into the sheet protectors and onto my pages. My hubby air dried all of the pages, and was able to salvage most of the pages and embellishments from the affected scrapbook pages.

Now each of those pages have asilica gel packetin between the two pieces of card stock in each sheet protector, just to absorb any excess moisture that might still be hiding in the paper. We will eventually remove them, because I am unsure of the archival quality of silica, but for now I am okay with them being there short term.

3. To keep collectables in pristine condition. My husband has quite the baseball card collection, and uses silica gel packets to keep his collection safe and in great condition.

4. To keep important documents safe. Whether you have important documents (birth certificates, social security cards, etc.) stored in files in a desk, cabinet, box, or envelopes, you can add a few packets of silica gel to keep them protected.

5. To use in each container in your basement, garage, or storage unit to absorb excess moisture.We use them everywhere in our basement!

6. To help preserve your ornaments and Christmas decorations.These get pulled out of boxes only once a year, so using silica gel packets in your Christmas boxes is a smart idea.

Okay, I’m adding a few more tips thanks to you readers!! Keep the good ideas coming!

“I bought an old book from an online bookstore that reeked of a musty smell. I put the book in a bag with baking soda. It did nothing. I put it in a bag with several gel packs and voila! Smell is all gone!”

8. The Feral Turtle commented that you can reuse these packets once they are full of moisture!! She says “We save our silica gel packets too! They will collect moisture and quit working, though, so we regenerate them in a 200 degree oven for about two hours and store them in an airtight Ziploc bag until we need them.”

As you can see, there are so many different ways to reuse silica gel packets, and I know there are tons more that we haven’t even thought of yet! You can buy silica gel packets for a great price on Amazon too, so don’t worry if you don’t have any from your packaging.

Do you keep these packets? Do you have any more ideas about how or where to use them? Leave me a comment and let me know!

UPDATE: Wow, you guys are amazing!! I’m shocked at the the popularity of this post, and how many different ways you have come up with to reuse these. Be sure to read through the comments to get some ideas of places you could use silica gel packets in your house!

You’ll love these FREE storage solutions for your Christmas ornaments using materials that you would normally thrown away!

Did you know that you can reuse baby food jars for TONS of cool projects? Here are just a few that I’ve come up with…

XO, Laura

Love it? Share it!

Related

About Laura

Hi! I'm Laura, owner and creator of Make Life Lovely, a creative blog filled with creative craft tutorials, DIY projects, party tips, holiday ideas, home decor, and so much more! Make Life Lovely is dedicated to making everyday life more lovely, and I hope to inspire you and show you how!

You could by 1lb or more of these lose silica gels at any walmart or hobby store and make you own silica packs. I bought 100 empty tea bags from eBay for dirt cheap and $13.00 1.5lb silica gel bag at walmart and made my own diseccant packs. Be creative and save.

We save our silica packs too! They will collect moisture and quit working though, so we regenerate them in a 200 degree oven for about two hours and store them in an airtight Ziplock bag until we need them. I wish I would have saved my cell phone that went for a swim in my tea mug! Great post. Cheers

Best approach to save electronics after exposure to water is to dip in 90% rubbing alcohol as soon as possible. The sooner the better. Remove battery and let it sit in the alcohol a few seconds, then shake out as much as possible and sit in a warm place to dry. Careful, while it is drying it is also inflammable. Keep away from pilot flames and electric switches and the like. Once dry, usually overnight, install battery and charge fully before turning one to see if it works. The alcohol penetrates and rapidly dilutes the water stopping water’s corrosive effects on the sensitive electronics.

Should be 99% isopropanol (found at hobby shops and online) This is for your phone’s motherboard to soak in, if you throw the entire phone in goodbye 13mp camera, speaker/mic etc.
Soak mainboard in the 99% isopropanol overnight, and apply a high temp ultrasonic bath, but cilica wont do much, dry out the outside, sort of like a towel

My mother used to use them to dry flowers. She learned the trick from my grandmother who used to collect wild rosebuds and dry them for craft purposes. Worked like a charm and the color of the flowers never seemed to fade too terribly. 🙂

they use it in the comercial cut flower buisness , simply put in the water , plant will absorb it and the stem will be full of gel, this will causse flower to never loos it look from where it was harvested, sorry for my bad english

Becky Rinks-Missey
Thanks so much for the animal vs silica caution. I would never forgive myself had I’d been careless with this stuff and harmed or lost one of my pets. I wonder if the silica packets that come in new shoes and so on carry this warning on them? They certainly should. Thanks again for posting this critical information.

If you have small children, this could be dangerous to have little silica packets floating around. If you are going to use them in something like a box of Christmas ornaments where the packet might fall out on the floor and get lost, you could tape a silica packet in the same designated spot in every bin so that you can check and make sure none go missing.

Silica is actually non-toxic and safe to eat, aside from the packets’ risk as a choking hazard. The warning is there because some silica packets are treated with additives that can be toxic, although generally the additives are colored for easy identification. Thus, a packet of clear or white silica is generally safe, but a pink, blue, or orange packet may contain harmful chemicals other than silica. Just an FYI.

It’s actually not just a choking hazard… the other thing these can cause if ingested is dehydration. While a little bit likely won’t have any affects, if a child or pet eats a decent amount, dehydration IS possible. And cats especially can be crafty at finding these and taking them out of hiding. Unfortunately, I’m speaking from direct experience. Just a reminder to be especially careful with them if you can pets and/or children.

Awesome tips! I actually use mine to dry out my Polaroid pictures (yes, instant film still exists!). Polaroids tend to change colors as they age, so to stabilize them right away and keep them looking as close to when you took them as possible, drying them out for about a month with silica packets will do the trick. 🙂

Its actually not the silica but the airtight ziploc bag that prevents tarnish. I make jewelry and keep all supplies in various sized ziploc bags-smaller ones can be found at craft stores. I also include an extra bag with each piece of jewelry I sell.

I live in Hawaii where the weather can be damp. This makes my salt clump together all the time, which is annoying when you want just a pinch, and it gets all sticky. So I throw a few silica packets into the crock of salt (that I keep air tight). And Voila! No more damp sticky salt!

I also live in a humid (in the summer) climate and use packets from vitamin bottles in my salt shaker to keep it flowing through the holes. I figure if they came from vitamins they are safe to use in food. Will try drying them out at 200 degrees so I do not have to keep finding new ones. Thanks!

my mom’s meds are kept in my bathroom (which of course gets steamed up regularly from the shower). So whenever i have any of these things, I toss them in the drawer with her medicine bottles to help keep that area less humid.

if you need to collect a bunch of them, i’d go to your local retail store (esp with knicknacks- cost plus world market, pier1, etc) and ask them to collect some for a day or two. you’ll have more than enough to share.

I baught my guitar at a store near the beach, so when I traveled back home the guy at the shop told me to put the gel packets in my guitar. This apparently help the wood with the different weather and dampness.

I would advise extreme caution if taping silica gel packs to the underside of pet food storage containers. If they were to fall into the pet food unnoticed and be consumed by your pet they could cause serious problems. While not technically a poison, the silica’s super-absorptive properties could cause serious problems and, as mentioned above, the cobalt chloride is a dangerous toxin.

I put them in peanuts, flour, big potato chip bags or other chips keeps the oils from getting rancid too soon. The better ones are the packets used in beef jerky which are iron flakes those keep oxygen away hence no oxidation but silica gel works just as good. You can also by silica gel in large qty at craft shops as it is used to dry roses as ornamental flowers all year long.

Some of these ideas are great, some I knew about previously. I always use my gel packets to put in my shoes/boots during the different seasons. As an example during the summer I put them in my boots/booties/suede shoes, ones that I know I won’t be wearing till next winter. Keeps them moisture free and removes any odor so they are ready for the next season. Thank you all for you suggestions.

My husband has a sock full of the little things, he empties the packets into an old sock and hangs the sock in his gun safe. It helps keep stored guns in good shape, otherwise they can start to rust just sitting in a safe. He puts the whole sock in the oven every few months to keep it working!

Here in the Gulf Coast we are moist 90% of the time and I’m just now hording these things from the store I work at. I was heartbroken years ago at my box of first edition books ruined by mold. Now there is a solution.

I put one in with my homemade dishwasher detergent and no more clumping. I wish I had started to keep these little packets years ago. Love the idea about using them in smelly shoes. Wish I would have known this when I had 4 teenagers in the house.

place them in an air tight jar or metal tin with sewing pins to keep them rust free. Also works for small parts like nuts, screws, etc. I use the ones that come in medicines to put into the bulk spices that I buy at the Amish store. Some of those powder type spices can really cake up.

place them in an air tight jar or metal tin with sewing pins to keep them rust free. Also works for small parts like nuts, screws, etc. I use the ones that come in medicines to put into the bulk spices that I buy at the Amish store. Some of those powder type spices can really cake up.

If you find you (or the rain) have overwatered a potted plant, put it in a sunny spot with a few silica packets on top the soil for a day or two. The silica draws water from the soil, and the sun absorbs it from the packets so they can continue to work.

Well…nice ideas but lousy results…because Silica Gel bags only are usable until they absorb all the moisture that they can take…they don’t last forever, normally each small only can take a maximum of 50ml of water…and that always depend on the humidity of the place where they are…;)So this is only another fake myth…sorry for the disapointment

No, not a myth! Once they absorb all the water they can handle and are full, you can dry them out in the sun or by placing in the oven as others have suggested in the comments. I myself have so many that I just toss them and use more that I have, but drying them out has worked for others to restore them back to their original state. Of course if you live in a very humid place they won’t last as long, but that doesn’t mean this is a myth or that it doesn’t work. Just look at all of the commenters, and I think that they are woking just fine for them 🙂

here in Brazil it’s very humid and everything gets molded, so I buy cheap 2-lb packets of silica gel in pet stores (it is sold as cat litter) and put a couple of tablespoons inside an old cotton sock, tie the top and place one packet in each drawer, cabinet, etc. It works! Once a year I “bake” all the packets in a moderate oven until they stop steaming to reactivate them and voilà!…

here in Brazil it’s very humid and everything gets molded, so I buy cheap 2-lb packets of silica gel in pet stores (it is sold as cat litter) and put a couple of tablespoons inside an old cotton sock, tie the top and place one packet in each drawer, cabinet, etc. It works! Once a year I “bake” all the packets in a moderate oven until they stop steaming to reactivate them and voilà!…

LOL I always joke with my daughter… since she was little.. I say.. here eat this (because it says “Do Not Eat” all over it. Then I toss in the trash! I will not do that anymore! I could use them in so many ways your readers have posted tips! awesome and thanks for sharing!

Hi Esteban, I can’t vouch for the safety of that, either. I’ve never baked them in the oven to dry them out. Some people have suggested placing them out in the sun to dry on a warm day, which sounds much safer. You can also buy the packets, and just replace them when they get full.

I also collect to use it in household, eg. camera pocket and other IT products, salt spender, coffee, rice also (this is extremely very good, it spells out all small insects). It’s very good tool to keep all your household stuff, documents, photos, IT products, shoes, etc.

Not sure if you knew or not but you can buy canisters of silica gel. Walmart used to sell it for drying fresh cut flowers but I think when they downsized their craft section they may have gotten rid of it. But you can always check and see (they start stocking some things again from time to time). If its not there anymore you can go to craft stores like Michael’s and purchase a can of it there. When it turns pink or blue its time to recharge. Just pop in the oven on 200 degress for a few hours. When it turns white again its good to go and ready to reuse .

I gather them up til I have a decent amount then empty the bags and put them into a sewn tube, sew the end so they want come out then when I go hiking or playing golf etc, I soak them with cold water til they swell up and tie the tube around my neck and I keep cool for hours. they dry naturally.

When we return home from traveling, I put a couple into the suitcase before it goes into storage. I also use a couple in the underbed tote where I keep my summer sandals during the cold months. If you change purses a lot, put one inside the ones being “rotated” into storage. This is especially important for leather items. Be creative! They can’t hurt anything unless they’re ingested.

We could use those silica gel, one thing before we reuse those silica gel, we must re dry. Because after one cycle silica gel will absorb the humidity so that material getting high humid, Simple way is open the packs and put in some heat resistant container and put in heat oven for about 30 minutes with about 200 deg C. For some silica gel when they getting wet the color will change , and after dry they will back to with color or little bit pink color.

A rice is doing very similar job. Once I dropped my camera to a sink full of water and I didn’t notice it for two hours. I took battery off and I put the camera in a bowl full of rice. I covered it completely and after two days I tried to switch it on. The camera is working until today.

The really important thing to know about these silica packets is to KEEP THEM AWAY FROM DOGS AND CHILDREN!!! If they injest them, it can kill them. They will absorb all the moisture in the stomach or intestine if they make it that far, so be very careful!

Silica gel is non-toxic, it is not poisonous to humans or animals. They say do not eat because it’s not food and the packet could be a choking hazard for small children or get stuck in an animals digestive track.

Keep them in your tackle box to keep your fishing equipment in nice shape…. Plus I make my own cigarettes and sometimes my bag of tobacco will get too dry or too moist to work with so here’s what I do:

Too moist add the silica gel pack overnight or if you need immediate results then lay a thin layer on a plate and zap it in the microwave 30 seconds….

Too dry: add a slice of bread or a wrung out steeped regular (no flavors) teabag….

I’ve read a lot of home remedies and DIY projects and a few pages have said that they kill bed bugs by dehydration. Just take some out the packet and crush it into a powder and sprinkle it between matresses and in the bugs favorite hiding places. But be careful where you place it so you don’t breathe in the powder.

They’re great for keeping moisture out of medicines which can make meds less effective or ruin them altogether. Put some in your medicine cabinet, drawer, box, wherever you keep your Rxs, vitamins and supplements.
They’re also good for keeping luggage fresh. Throw a few in your suitcase (add a fabric softener sheet for fragrance if you like) before you put it away between trips. Also, keep in your gym bag(w/fabric softener sheet). Works wonders!
Put inside shoes to help dry them out from sweaty feet or getting shoes wet.
Thanks for all you do! Hope these are useful for some 🙂
Sincerely,
(Name below in info box)

I camp, & my tote of spices is damp from being outside. I throw a handful in the bottom & it keeps the spices dry. My husband also throws them in his tool boxes to keep the moisture off the tools & prevent rust.

I have an old car that I put in storage for the winter. I try to leave packets around the inside of the car – front seat, front floor, back seat, back floor. I don’t know if it does any good, but I figure it can’t hurt.

Hi All…I make my own garlic, onion and tomato powders…And, also, beef, chicken and bone bouillon. I found your post because I was looking to see if I can use the little silica gel packs from Meds to use in my food jars ? Thank You for answering my question…
Merry Christmas !

Awhile back used to watch Billy the Exterminator. He would explain how silica basically suffocates soft shelled insects (wheat bugs, spiders, roaches, etc) so I started using them everywhere in my kitchen drawers, cabinets, junk drawers. I noticed a big change. I’m now finding wheat bugs again so after now seeing this post I believe my current packets need to be regenerated.

In order to protect items from moisture you can buy larger amounts of silica at the pet shop. They are sold as cat litter. I recently saw a YouTube Life hack and they bought silica, put it in a sock and then placed the sock in the car. It absorbed all the moisture and there were no more foggy windows.

I rug hook with wool fabric a have them between layers, since wool absorbs and it’s hard to tell if fully dry or not.
I also use them in containers I have my home dried herbs in just in case not fully dry when I seal the jar.
I get them from my work from a product we use repeatedly, and they are super big ones ! Score.

[…] let the kids eat them, and get them in the garbage as quickly as possible, right? Wrong. Apparently they’re very useful around the home. You can forget about putting your cell phone in rice if you ever drop it in […]